Not As Pretty But Gap Still Narrows

We all knew what we wanted from the game yesterday – a repeat/extension of Tuesday night’s performance against Ipswich, leaving out the first 20 mins or so. We didn’t really get that, but what we did get proved good enough. We weren’t able to reproduce the dominance and attacking threat we showed before, there was – like after the Plymouth game – just less verve and with this slightly less physical effort. Also, unlike on Tuesday night our opponents didn’t fold once they went behind. It all resulted in a much more even contest, one which Cambridge will undoubtedly feel hard done-by to come away with nothing, having fashioned effectively two one-on-ones in the second half. That they didn’t was down to MacGillivray and their finishing.

The team saw one change, with Jaiyesimi taking a breather and swapping places on the bench with Lekko. He’d looked rather unsure of the task of playing wing-back, but with a few more days to get used to the requirements, and with more game-time under his belt, played his part defensively as well as going forward. And on that front he was our main threat through the first half, causing them no end of problems – although crucially when Purrington put in a cross from the left which went to the far post he hadn’t gambled and made the move to get on the end of it.

Let’s face it the first half was scrappy, we struggled to get things moving. Perhaps fatigue, perhaps the horrible conditions, perhaps the opposition. But it mattered not in that as on Tuesday night we’d taken the lead. Lekko’s attempted cross was blocked and he laid it back into the path of Gilbey, who instead of curling it in for Stockley’s head played a shorter ball into Washington, with his back to goal. If his first touch was deliberately crafted to give him just the extra space and room to turn and shoot it was sublime, as the defender was never close enough to shut him down and instead the low shot through his legs went into the far corner.

Cambridge had their moments, creating mayhem in our box one after Famewo was surprisingly shouldered off the ball and also one of their guys shooting just wide of the post from a good position. The only other point of note for me from the first half was that I felt the ref dealt very well with two incidents. First, Famewo appeared to me at first to swing an elbow and connect with their guy’s face, I feared it would be a red. But the ref didn’t overreact and when we had the chance to see it again it was clear that Famewo was using his arm to help him keep position; he did catch the guy but not with any swing of the elbow. Second, their forward caught Pearce in the face with one. Here too there was no real intent. A yellow for both, nothing more. (And in the second half, when Pearce took another and Stockley got involved the ref was again calm, waited for the dust to settle, then acted appropriately.)

At the break I think we fancied ourselves to get another and perhaps run out fairly comfortable winners. But that didn’t happen. Instead Cambridge matched us all the way and had two great opportunities to level the score. First Dobson was for once caught out in midfield, advancing to make an interception and not getting there, which created the space for their guy to play in the forward. MacGillivray moved out quickly to shut down the space and excellently blocked the effort. The second time was more of a long ball which their forward read better than two of our defenders and slipped into nick it past and advancing MacGillivray. Nothing he could do about that one, but thankfully it drifted just wide of the post.

Like on Tuesday we had to wait until late in the day to be able to relax. Soare, who’d come on for an injured Purrington (after DJ had replaced Lekko), put in a cross from the left which was headed out but blocked, falling nicely for Washington. Once again his first touch proved to be decisive and he drilled it home. Queue repeat celebrations, six minutes of stoppage time (but not quite enough for Morgan to enter the fray).

The positive take on the game is no doubt that we won despite not being at our best. And perhaps the main message was a reinforcement of what JJ has already said: when we are really on song we’re a match for anyone in this league, the obvious other side of the coin being that when we are not we need to dig in and will have problems against decent and determined teams like Cambridge.

I’ve got a bit out of the habit of player ratings of late, but I’d make MacGillivray my Man of the Match. I saw ratings for the Ipswich game giving him 6. How do you score a keeper who hasn’t had a single shot to save? Can hardly penalise his score for that. Yesterday he was instrumental in us staying ahead in the game, which would have taken a very different shape if they had equalised. Of course Washington takes plaudits too, for a brace of well-taken goals, while Pearce put in yet another committed display despite looking in clear discomfort (and taking a couple in the face).

So now a chance to rest some weary legs - and surely to sort out JJ's status - ahead of a trip to Plymouth, who having come to The Valley riding high at the top have now lost four and drawn one out of the last five, and lost their manager. Sitting now in sixth, it is their place in the league we covet. Let’s hope the gap has narrowed further before Santa turns up.